This database contains basic information about the phonological systems of a substantial number of different languages around the world. It aims to include languages from different geographic areas and language families in approximate proportion to their density. Unlike its predecessor UPSID, described in Maddieson (1984) and other works, it is not designed to be a balanced sample: some very closely related languages are included, some of the better-studied families are over-represented, and languages from less well-known areas are necessarily under-represented. However, appropriately structured representative samples can be constructed by making a selection among the languages included.
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